Damnation Batch 23 (Oak Aged) | Russian River Brewing Company

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Notes / Commercial Description:
We turned our regular Damnation recipe into a Tripel. It is bittered with Tomahawk and has Sterling and Cascade in the mid-boil and finish. The beer was then aged on new American oak chips for two to three weeks.

Reviews by Phatz:

I found Damnation (original) to be a decent easy drinking Belgian Pale Ale but with some of the other impressive beers from RR, this one is somewhat typical and not a favorite of mine. This beer, the Oak Aged Damnation Batch 23 was much better in my opinion. In this case the wood Oak aging worked terrifically. It adds a magnificent new dimension of depth and character that I enjoyed greatly.

JohnMichaelsen deserves a huge thanks. Bringing this beer back for CA and the willingness to share it at our tasting is very generous. Thanks friend!

Appearance: Pours hazy light yellow color with a soft white head and little lace on the walls of my tasting snifter.

Smell: Sweet apples and honey with wine like alcohol presence, beautiful vanilla oak and spices with a touch of citrus fruit. Very nice!

Taste: Vanilla and oak lay gently atop the sweet sugars and honey yeast flavors. There is a pleasant wine like flavor and a touch of sour apples and hint of cherry wood.

Mouthfeel: Very very soft, effervescent and then dry finish.

Drinkability: I found this to be a very tasty easy drinking Strong Belgian Ale. Very very nice.

More User Reviews:

Poured from the bottle at the brewery on July 25, 2007 into a thin chalice. I am immediately taken aback by how mellow the oak is. This isnt an overwhelming bourbony oak by any means, just a light dusting of wood and vanilla. Body pours a brilliant and well carbonated gilded copper with a 2 inch off white head that dissipates quickly to a steady but thin lace. Loads of butter in the aroma like a California Chardonnay. Taste is sweet and boozey. Orange and sweet apples, tannins, vanilla, and a touch of spiciness. Chewy and very warming mouthfeel. Barleywine like. Fairly drinkable. I managed to finish the bottle, mostly by my self so it must be. Should improve with time. Plan on revisiting in a couple years.

The beer pours a slightly hazy yellow color with a white head. The aroma is citrus (both lemon and orange) with some oaked character. The flavor is orange, oak, lemon and a nice dose of vanilla. The alcohol is very well hidden and unless you look at the label, you would have no idea this beer was 11 percent. Medium mouthfeel and medium carbonation.

Bottle @ O'Brien's. Poured hazy gold with a thick, foamy white head. Some lacing on the goblet. Lovely sweet French oak barrel, Belgian yeast, cloves, and lots of lighter fruits (apples, grapes, peaches). Effervescent mouthfeel, very light. Compliments the flavor nicely. Sweet peaches and white grapes up front, even sweeter yeast and malt. Nive vanilla/clove spice combo, close to what you may find in a trippel. The oak gives this a flavor far different than the usual Damnation. It is still sweet, but the slight earthiness keeps this from being sickening. Dry finish. Great beer.

Adam from Missouri brought this to March Madness. Drank another one this summer as well. Looks real nice, a tiny bit of haze throughout the golden liquid, pristine white head, about .75" to it, good lacing and retention. Aroma was heavy on the alcohol, sheesh, this is powerful. Alcohol overpowers every other olfactory attempt at semblance.

Taste, again, I'm getting a ton of alcohol. For being the same abv as Pliny the Younger, this one shows it infinitely more. You can pick up on the oak at least, unlike the aroma which was all alcohol. I'd be tempted to even say this was fusel alcohol had I not known that its 11% and probably just that massiveness that makes it so.

I can't pick up on much taste, the alcohol just destroyed me. Really a burn in the throat as I drink it. The oak is bright enough to make me wonder if it is a virgin barrel. I just can't endorse this one, its primary and final impression it left on me was "damn, that tastes like I'm drinking gin/vodka."

This beer pours a cloudy orange color, with a thick and fluffy white head, with a light yellow tint to it. The head fades very slowly, leaving a massive lace.

This beer has a very grainy aroma to it. Some funky, earthy yeast aroma as well. Spicy hops mix in, with a slight citrusy aroma. Also, I detect a very subtle banana aroma. Alcohol is well hidden in the aroma.

This beer tastes like it smells. Grainy up front, with some spicyhop flavor. I can taste a slight bubblegum flavor. Some banana flavor as well. As with the aroma, alcohol is well hidden.

This beer is full bodied. It is highly carbonated, well for the style. It leaves a grainy aftertaste. The alcohol warms slightly on the way down.

This beer might be a decent session beer. It is a little high in alcohol though. Flavor is mellow and good.

Overall: This is a good beer. I would expect nothing else from Vinnie.

Pours a clear lemon-yellow color with a one-finger white head. The head recedes into a thin layer on top leaving solid lacing.

Smells of sugar-coated pears with solid amounts of sweet malts and milder amounts of earthiness, some from the oak and the rest from leafy hops.

Tastes similar to how it smells although not quite as smooth. Sweet malt flavors kick things off and are joined quickly by solid amounts of fruits and spices - pears and cloves mostly with light amounts of green apple flavors. Midway through the sip the sweetness is tempered a bit by the oak and carries through to a crisp ending.

Mouthfeel is good. It's got a nice thickness with active carbonation.

Drinkability is also good. I finished my glass without a problem and could have another.

Overall I didn't pick up on any huge differences between this and normal Damnation however the nose in this one was a bit more robust. Worth a shot.

Pour – Extremely pale gold turns out to be a hazy copper orange once it’s in the glass. Two fingers head of nice tight foam, clings to the edges and is slow to settle. Looks watery for a ten percenter.

Taste: Immediately thicker and heavier than the regular Damnnation. Opens up with some tropical Belgian funk, tangerines and the like, then gets a bit boozy in the middle, finishes big but dry, lemon twang, light oak and a tiny bit hot. I know there’s a lot of booze in here, but it shows up only in the back of the throat.

Mouth: Deceptively heavy. Has pretty tight carbonation, but not enough to hold up all that weight. Very vinous and a bit sticky. The oak pins down the front of your tongue, even cold

My bottle at Stone Brewing Bistro and Gardens. Yeasty aroma mostly. Starts sweet and then finishes bitter. Funkier as it warms. Hits the style and also funkier than the style. Would be much better with food. 375 ml is sufficient without it. Enormous head.

Thanks to ipa247 for this one. Batch 69. Corked and caged 375ml bottle poured into a Southampton oversize snifter. Shared with schen9303.

Gentle pour yields a gigantic 2 finger frothy, fluffy white head with great retention. Beer is a clear orange. Lacing is patchy and thick with little cling. Pretty.

Nose is coriander, orange peel, soap, and cane sugar. Real deep and robust but lively at the same time. Nice.

Opens clove, orange peel, coriander, citrus fruit, and Belgian yeastiness. Very sweet and herbal. More yeast towards the middle with some cane sugar further enhancing the malt body. End is sweet and yeasty with touches of citrus throughout. Aftertaste is of sweet orange and spices. Moderate complexity. Very enjoyable.

Light to medium bodied with ample carbonation. Lively and bubbly in the mouth and crisp and aggressive going down. Finish is messy with a lingering aftertaste. Decent.

For an 11% offering, this one hides its boozy side very very well. Otherwise, a very solid tripel though the barrel-aging barely shows up in the flavor profile.